_Master._—Well, ploughman, how do you do your work? _Ploughman._—O sir, I work very hard. I go out in the dawning, driving the oxen to the field, and I yoke them to the plough. Be the winter never so stark, I dare not stay at home, for fear of my lord; but, every day I must plough a full acre or more, after having yoked the oxen, and fastened the share and the coulter to the plough. _Master._—Have you any mate? _Ploughman._—I have a boy, who drives the oxen with a goad, who is now however hoarse from cold and shouting. _Master._—What more do you do in the day? _Ploughman._—Truly I do more. I must fill the mangers of the oxen with hay, and water them, and carry out the dung. _Master._—Well, well, it is very hard work! _Ploughman._—Yes, indeed, it is very hard work, because I am not free. THE SHEPHERD. _Master._—How say you, shepherd? Have you any work to do? _Shepherd._—Yes, indeed I have. Very early in the morning I drive my sheep to the lea, and stand over them in heat and in cold with my dogs, lest the wolves eat them up. And I drive them back to their folds, and milk them twice a day. And besides this, I move their folds, and I make cheese and butter, and I am true to my lord. THE OXHERD. _Master._—And what is your work, oxherd? _Oxherd._—O, my lord, I work hard. When the ploughman unyokes the oxen, I lead them to the lea, and all the night I stand over them watching for thieves, and again, very early in the morning, I hand them over to the ploughman, well fed and watered. THE HUNTSMAN. _Master._—How do you set about your craft? _Huntsman._—I make me nets, and set them in a likely place, and drive on my hounds to chase the wild beasts until they come to the nets unawares, and so they are ensnared and I slay them in the nets.... Yes, I can hunt without nets. I follow the wild beasts with swift hounds.... I take hart, and boars, and does, and roes, and sometimes hares.... _Master._—What do you do with the spoils of your hunting? _Huntsman._—What I take I give to the king, because I am his huntsman. _Master._—What does he give you? _Huntsman._—He clothes me well and feeds me, and sometimes gives me a horse or a bracelet, that I may the more joyfully set about my craft. THE FISHERMAN. _Master._—What do you get by your craft? _Fisherman._—Food, and clothing, and money. _Master._—How do you catch fish? _Fisherman._—I get into my boat, and place my nets in the river, and I cast a hook and baskets, and I take whatever they hold. _Master._—What if they are unclean fishes? _Fisherman._—The unclean I cast out, and take the clean for food. _Master._—Where do you sell your fish? _Fisherman._—In the town.... The townsmen buy them. I cannot catch as many as I can sell. _Master._—What sorts of fish do you catch?